


Joined at the Hip

by BlissHellfire



Category: Bittybones - Fandom, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bittybones (Undertale), Bitty abuse, Gen, Maybe angst, Non-Binary OC, She/her pronouns, Swearing, Trauma Recovery, bitties aren't currently adoptable or known to the public, comfort/hurt, guppy bitty, he/him pronouns, lab experimentation, she/they pronouns, still in development, woman of trans experience OC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:02:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27801985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlissHellfire/pseuds/BlissHellfire
Summary: Who knew the late shift at an aquarium could shake up so much trouble?
Relationships: Bittybone(s) (Undertale) & Original Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An eventful winter night... idk what to put here XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a friendly heads up, if a character doesn't know someone's pronouns, they will default to using singular they pronouns. Hopefully that alleviates any confusion with the guppy's pronouns. He isn't introduced, therefore, no one knows his pronouns, much less name. heheh

“Can you just. give. me. a break. for. one. fucking. day?” Darci grumbles at all the smudges on the glass.

That damn sea lion always drags his stupid nose fucking EVERYWHERE. Like… normal algae build up? General waste product? Go fucking crazy! It’s chill as hell, but this? Gary seemed perfectly fine NOT doing this five months ago and _magically_ , he just HAD to start rubbing it now!

Darci sighs.

“But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Her mind wanders to her childhood. She’d never thought she could become a Professional Aquarist. Even once she graduated a couple years ago, the dream still felt like a dream. It even felt like a dream once she landed this job. The dream continued until one day she’d occasionally do some cleaning but she wasn’t the janitor here anymore. She got to work with the animals she knew and loved. She finally made it. It didn’t seem possible but she did it.

She’d even been able to hid her teeth through the interview. She wasn’t going to let them hold her back.

Her goggles softly clink against the clean glass.

_It’s so close to being perfect._

Her thoughts wonder to that of her mother. It had been years but…

“Wish you were here.”

She could imagine the smile her mother would have. How she’d say that “We need to celebrate with a swim! To the other side!” If she was still on this side, she’d probably haven taken her to her home away from home in that strangle cove.

Sadly, ladders aren’t super forgiving of day dreaming and it starts to wobble. It nearly sways past the point of no return but she manages to counter balance it at the last second. “Phew!” And nobody was around to see what a dumbass she was being. Staying late doesn’t exactly give a huge audience anyway. The night guards pass by quick enough that they never get a chance to talk. Not that Darci would like to.

Darci climbs the ladder back out of the tank. Glancing at the time, it was already 10 o’clock.

_No wonder I’m fucking pissy. Must be starving._

After washing her hands, she rips open a protein bar with her teeth. One of the few perks of being born with serrated teeth, hella easy to open up any package.

“Look mom! No hands~”

A pleasant ache swells in her chest, like an ice cream head ache. She’s pushed it a little far.

_Damn, protein bars are fucking heaven on an empty stomach._

Footsteps pound down the corridor, wrenching her from her day dreams. Darci instinctively pulls up her face mask. Occasionally kids sneak in but they don’t get this far. Darci reluctantly peaks around the hallway to nothing. 

_Who was that?_

Another set of footsteps comes rolling in, followed by one of the security guards, Rodrigues. He scans the lab and variety of holding tanks. “See anyone?” He grunts, barely spares a glance.

Darci shakes her head. The two of them rarely spoke, only saying hi when passing by.

“So who you chasing?”

Something loud crashes a few rooms over. It sounds wooden and pretty big. “Radio if you see him.” In a flash, Rodrigues is off again. In the meantime, footsteps approached from behind. Too quiet even for Darci to notice until they were right behind her.

“Think he’ll catch me?” A familiar voice snickers.

If Darci hadn’t heard that cheeky little bastard a dozen times before, she would’ve punched that stupid cunty face of hers. Instead, she groans. “Really?”

“Gotta make an entrance somehow.” Marque shrugs. She looks more disheveled than usual. The way her skin bunches up around her eyes is most disconcerting.

Normally, she appears while Darci’s on lunch. However, Marque rarely brings anything along, much less such a large package. “Can you help a friend out?” She offers it up.

Darci skeptically eyes the package. Not making a move to take it. “Depends what it is.”

“Nothing much.” Marque grins, knowing that it’s anything but. She’d snuck him into the back a dozen or so times. This was a little more than sight-seeing. “Just need you to promise me you’ll never tell anyone or share pictures of this to anyone.”

“What the fuck have you gotten yourself into?” She rubs her temple.

Marque sets the box on a nearby desk, careless of the papers already strewn about. “Make sure to read the instructions and you’ll be fine.”

_Oh god, how fucking deep is she in? Wait is she dumping this shit on me?_

Knowing that won’t garner much of an answer, Darci asks. “Is this why you’ve been missing lunch for the past **month**?”

“Uh.. couldn’t have been _that_ long.” Marque anxiously eyes the exit. “I’d love to chat but I’ve gotta go.”

With a slam of a distant door, Marque tenses. Her flighty gaze suggests she’s about to book it, chewing her lip. Darci grabs her arm.

Distant yelling echoes further down the hall.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing here!”

“Marque.” Darci lowers her voice.

Marque struggles in Darci’s grip. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have to. I just can’t.. they’ll find him! I can’t let them get him!”

“What’s in the box, Marque?”

“Just a very normal fish.” Darci raises an eye brow. “An _extremely_ normal genetically modified fish that wasn’t treated very well from some not so nice people.” Marque struggles to pry Darci’s hands off. “No time! Need to run! Please! Darci! I swear, you’ll be fine—”

There’s yelling now, it’s much closer. Half comes from where Rodrigues went, the rest from where she came from. He must be working with the others.

“Darci!” She pleads.

_This is stupid. Really stupid._

Darci lets go. Marque does a silent thank you, putting her hands together and doing a slight bow.

She’s about to run when, “will I see you again?” Darci blurts.

She can’t help herself. Marque hasn’t seen her in so long. After all that time had past, she tried her best to convince herself that she didn’t care. She didn’t miss the jovial atmosphere that always seemed to follow Marque. The way that Marque’s nose crinkled whenever she teasing her. The wandering scientist always came and went as she pleased. There’s no way of contacting her. Marque made that very clear from the start, not a fan of phones, email, etc. Aside from the occasional letter shoved in her work mailbox, their one-on-one lunches were the only way she could see her.

Marque runs back. She pauses, grinning cheekily. She was so close, their chests nearly touched. Darci could even smell her breath along with the licorice cologne. Darci’s breath hitches. Before Darci can react, Marque steals a kiss on her cheek. “Hope so, star fish.” Marque winks. She’d never been so quite before.

Then she’s gone.

As if none of it ever happened.

Her cheek’s still warm. Still damp.

_This can’t be real. Marque wasn’t here._

She’d already decided that she wouldn’t see her again. Feelings like ones of her old high school crushes she pined over but never could admit to flood her mind. She knew it was never going to work. They were just friends. Marque didn’t even seem remotely interested…

Her blood boils. The warmth from that kiss was real. It wasn’t the sixty billion fantasies she’d had. Marque even puffer fished, unsure of how to do it. She’d never imagine that.

“You don’t just get to pull that shit without a proper goodbye!” She calls.

A second wind full her lungs. She feels as if she could run a marathon. Darci bolts after Marque as if shot out of a cannon. She throws open doors, cuts corners, and grabs displays to keep her balance. She’s already considerably far behind. Her only guide is Marque’s distant footsteps.

_Don’t let this one get away!_

_Don’t let go!_

_Don’t! Don’t! Don’!t DON’T! DON’T!_

She rounded the corner to the lobby. Sure beyond a doubt that Marque would be there but she wasn’t. The lobby was empty except for belt barriers thoughtlessly thrown into a corner. The floor was spotless. Moon light tumbled in from outside.

_She must’ve taken the employee exit._

_There’s still a chance!_

But that hope died as soon as she opened the door to find an empty parking lot. Her breathe misted on the night air. The cold swam around her body like parrot fish, slowly getting closer but never touching. Always at a distance. The adrenaline had yet to burn off, leaving her a panting mess.

She regretfully pulls up her radio, waiting for the familiar beep to speak. “Trespasser vacated the premises.” Then she throws the stupid piece of shit into a nearby bush.

Her furry had yet to burn off by the time she returned to her station.

_If you weren’t such a starstruck idiot—_

“Shut up! She’s gone. Get over it. I’ve got work. I’ll just… finish whatever and scram. No point in staying.”

She glares at the package. Something told her, deep, deep down, that this would be the last thing Marque gave her. No, she wasn’t going to fucking squander it. But fuck whatever was in there could wait until she got back.

Just like millions of times before, she shook the mouse on the worn-out keypad. Nothing. Guess emergency power doesn’t mean shit for her computer. It was like it dropped into subzero temperatures in that moment.

“OH C’MON!”

She was _hoping_ to finish this damn thing so she could have tomorrow off. So much for hanging out with Dad.

Darci glares at the package as if Marque could feel her fury. She should leave it. The stupid smartass shouldn’t get any help after what she just pulled.

_GAHH!!_

If she had to stay until closing, she’d find out whatever the hell Marque left.

Her hands barely make contact with the package when Rodrigues calls. Not in person, over the radio. Darci reluctantly picks it up.

“What’s up?”

The radio crackles. Must be picking up some kind of interference but she nonetheless heard through the garbled mess. “You saw the kid?”

Darci blinks. _The security cameras would’ve said, wouldn’t they?_ “Yeah?”

“What did he look like?”

Instinctively, they squeeze the receiver.

_How dare you he her--_

_Oh. He doesn’t know._

Darci glances at the camera. As if on cue, backup generator lights flicker on.

_That was quick._

“Sh—the kid got us good, didn’t they?” She hopes Rodrigues doesn’t notice any fondness that crept into her voice.

If he asked her, he couldn’t have gotten a good look- security cams or not. From what she heard of the system, it had trouble rebooting back up. It’s unlikely that the cameras would be up and running for a while. Depending when the glitch *cough* Marque *cough* happened, it’s possible they had nothing.

The box drew her attention, Schrodinger’s cat but of all the possible fish it could be.

_Oh shit, he’s probably waiting._

“Uh… didn’t get a good look at …” Darci pauses, trying to think of a way not to gender Marque. “At the trespasser. Hoodie or something.” Darci mutters.

And with that, Darci was alone in the holding tank area again.

The box has several this side up arrows and handle carefully, ‘live package.’ If it was exotic, the aquarium would probably let her keep it here until they found a tank that could house it. It wasn’t unheard of. Then again, if the fish was genetically modified… better not.

She couldn’t just leave it here. The little guy shouldn’t pay for Marque’s reckless actions.

“Maybe I should wait…” Darci hums, running her fingers over it. “Then again…”

_Marque doesn’t know shit about fish._

In all the times that Marque occupied Darci in the quiet hours of the morning, she didn’t even know the basics. She can’t be sure how long Marque left the poor fella in there. Could be a couple hours… _or maybe a day._ The questions Marque asked about fish care sometimes made her shiver.

With the haunting image of a fish floating belly up, Darci carefully strips away the tape. The amount of packing tape Marque used is insane, almost as if she wanted to water poof it. The bag for the fish is cartoonishly small compared to the size of the box. It’s mostly filled with binders, a filter, as well as what looks like two tablets. One seems to be water proof with a miniature doll-sized keyboard.

 _Strange_.

Darci eyes the opaque bag. She should probably check up on the fish. Then again... she’s not keen on breaking down here if the fish turns out to be dead. Begrudgingly, she sets to work filling a nearby spare tank. From a brief scan over the directions, it has pretty standard instructions. Except refers to the fish as a bitty or bittybones, ‘guppy variant.’ There’s also a sticky note that says, ‘keep away from mustard.’

“Did you really think…?” Darci looks to the vaulted ceiling. “Who the fuck do you think I am?” She asks, as if Marque would shout down from the heavens as to why she’d ever feed a fish mustard.

Sadly… there was no response.

She eyes the bag warily. More than a handful of fish from the main display tank succumbed to gill flukes.

_Should wash them again._

Sure, she already washed them a while preparing the tank but it doesn’t hurt, right?

Her stomach churns. It’s possible that the fish has a whole host of problems. Whether or not it’s alive right now, it could be dead soon enough. Some of the older fish have trouble surviving those kinds of treatments.

The weight reaches a breaking point when she knocks over her thermos. Its clang sends electricity up and down her body.

It was hard to get off her mind. She’d really rather not see it again.

Darci rubs at her eyes. Realizing the potential contamination only too late, she groan and rewashes them after some generous curses. If she just didn’t _think_ about it, it would be fine. She could deal with that can of worms later.

She carefully lifted the bag into the tank, cutting open a small slit to peak in. 

Nothing. Emergency lights are useless.

“How fucking tiny are you anyway?” She mutters. The fish isn’t anywhere.

Her phone flashlight isn’t much better. Wherever the fish is or was, it’s not moving.

Upon opening up the bag a little more, she catches sight of two red glowing eyes. She takes a step back and thank heavens for that because a set of golden chains shoots out. They would’ve gone straight for her eye. Instead, they do lazy arc, then clatter on the side of the tank. Several of said chains connect with the sides, somehow attaching themselves. The bag bobs violently. It sends waves through the rest of the tank.

_Is it… is that.. is that **thing** from the other side of the mirror?_

Darci’s soul beats quicken. She hadn’t met anyone who’d been from her mom’s realm, much less a magical creature. Maybe the fish is also from there too. Maybe there’s clues in these reports? Whatever the hell it is, it could be like her. Then again… She never mentioned ever being the size of a goldfish. Probably one of those creatures she talked about.

As if on cue, the fish ventures closer to the surface. Even with the phone flashlight on the bag, the little fella is shrouded in shadow. It’s a ghostly white. But a lot larger than Darci thought considering the bag’s size. Maybe as big as her thumb or a little bigger. Definitely could fit in her palm.

It felt like eons waiting but it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds and the critter popped out. Darci shutters, remembering the dead fish she’d seen so far into decomposition that their skull had already been stripped of flesh. She had to remind herself that this, whatever this is, it isn’t a fish. At least, not a fish that she’s familiar with.

It is breathing.

It must be okay.

_Now that guppy variant thing makes sense. And the bittybones thing. But it looks more like…_

_A guppy mermaid?_

Its upper body is that of a skeleton. The head is far bigger in proportion than a human would be at that size, same with the ribcage and eye sockets. Whatever the red dots are, they’re incredibly dim now. Despite that, it grinned. It’s hard to be sure.

_Ouch._

Its sharp teeth shine in the lamp light. However, one of the right most canines is gone. In its place, a crack nearly reaches its eye. It’s hard to know if its fresh or not. Whatever happens, it must’ve been painful.

From how eagerly the little critter looked around, it seems excited. Not at all in pain. It raises its hand to cover the bright light. Darci points her phone away. Its eye sockets narrowed when it saw Darci, like it was glaring. Only momentarily, then it closes its eyes, arching its back over the side of the tank, leaning as far towards Darci as it could. A few seconds pass. Darci watches in fascination as it furrows its… eye brows? brow bone? The guppy still doesn’t seem satisfied. It stares up at Darci, cocking its head to the side, as if not quite sure what the hell it’s looking at but definitely not liking whatever it is.

It dips back into the water, filling miniature goggles. They have a brass, oversized, steam-punk aesthetic. They really popped when put on the guppy’s face. Once fastened, those red lights returned. The only difference being they were blown up to nearly take up the entire lenses, which in turn takes up a whole bunch of its face. Darci isn’t sure if they were originally meant for a doll.

That skeletal smile doesn’t take long to be ripped off its face when it finally sees Darci. The nimble guppy hands shift to make gestures. It frustrates them more and more the longer it goes on.

_I think… they’re talking to me._

Darci blinks.

_Shit._

Something changes in the guppy’s expression. Their smile tightens and brows set. At a slower pace, they sign.

Something….

This time, they wait longer than before. No sound comes between them. There’s only the distant hum of the tank filtration systems.

As if in the final act of impatience, the guppy points to the door then to themself. Upon getting no response, their eye lights go out.

Pain shoots up and down her legs as if they’ll break. She instinctually grabs whatever is coiling around them.

 _Chains_. Motherfucking chains.

“You little—” Darci’s cut off when she’s thrown into the sizable tank behind her. The air is knocked right out of her lungs. Breathless and disoriented, it takes all of Darci’s strength to open her eyes through the throbbing of… everything but especially her head.

“What the fuck was that for?!”

If she wasn’t so pissed, she’d be amazed at this display of magic. Instead, she glares at the little shit who swivel their head every which way. They keep on tugging at their neck as if something was there before. She eventually catches their attention. They sign another string of something angrily.

“Two can play at that game.” Darci snarls. Her magic slowly presses down the water, dragging a very confused and irritable guppy to the bottom.

_“Get the fuck out of here already!”_

The guppy’s mere presence was a middle finger.

Marque had left.

She won’t come back.

Whatever the reason, Darci has a feeling that it’s because of this thing.

It’s all their fault. If they would just disappear, then maybe Marque would come back. Everything would go back to the way it was. Marque would pretend to know anything about fish. Misidentify everything while Darci corrected her. Each time, Marque would remember a couple more fish, a couple more names. She even looked up fish facts that Darci knew practically all of them but she pretended that she didn’t. The way that Marque’s face lit up when she could share something with her… It was worth more than its weight in gold.

The guppy glares through the glass.

 _“Just go away.”_ Darci hadn’t even realized she said it out loud. Her whole body trembled with frustration. _“You can’t be here while she’s gone.”_

She’s sure the guppy didn’t understand. Even if they could hear, which they probably couldn’t, they’re underwater. They do give her the middle finger. **Literally**.

It’s so tempting to increase the pressure until it becomes too much for their frail body.

_Why should I even care? Just because M—_

Darci chokes back a sob. “fuck.” she hisses, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

She must’ve let go of the guppy too. By the time she looked up again, they were swimming near the surface, watching her apprehensively. Seeing eye to eye, their frustration expression shifts to something unreadable, irritable but something else too. Darci’s ready to slam them again. They raise their hand when the chains start melting. It’s like watching cake batter dripping. Bits of it stay attached her clothes but otherwise, it’s left in a gloopy mess on the floor. soon after, it turns to steam. 

Darci blinks.

_Maybe they’re forfeiting._

Keeping their movements slow, she steps back from the tank. The guppy doesn’t even have the gall to look her in the eye. Instead, they elect to stare into some middle distance. Darci follows their gaze. It’s toward the door where Marque came from.

_Are they trying to escape?_

Darci walks off, cracks open the door. Nobody’s there. They look back, letting it hang open. There’s another tank in view. If the guppy wanted to, it drag itself to the next tank. Or maybe spiderman it with the chains. Doesn’t matter as long as they’re out of here. Instead, it’s not even looking this way. At some point the ground became infinitely more interesting.

A wave of exhaustion washes over her. It takes everything in her not to collapse right then and there.

_Can’t I deal with this **later** … ugh, probably not. _

The ground is still welcoming as hell.

“If only the bastard didn’t bash my head.”

For all she knows, this is a concussion. However, the nausea hasn’t set in. They feel fucked, keeping their eyes open is a chore. Then again, she always feels crummy after a long shift. Who knows?

_What now?_

If there was anything she least wanted to consider, it was that. All she wanted was to punch the asshole into oblivion. Scream the hell out of Marque for just running out like that. There’s no excuse for it!

“Didn’t I mean something to you?” Darci hisses to the ceiling. “You really thought—” Laughter’s the only thing that comes out. It’s not like she should be doing anything else. She should’ve expected so much but she was stupid and opened up and look where that got her!

‘Hope so, Starfish.’

Her heart thrums with a soft heat at the memory. Seeing Marque’s half lidded eyes, how the craving that manifested within her to hold on but the shock left her frozen in place.

A sigh escapes them.

“It’s going to be alright.”

She hums an old song that her dad song. He still sometimes hummed it when she “forgot” to end the skype call for a couple hours.

_Yeah, I’ll deal with this in the morning. Clear my head. Everything will be alright with a good night’s sleep._

Then her head had to remind her what the last fifteen minutes were like for her body. Or well, getting up suddenly did that..

_Need to fix that. Like now._

She throws a blanket over the tank before checking her locker for ibuprofen. With the help of drugs and a sizable ice pack, Darci keeps to the far end of the table.

Nothing had changed in her absence. Maybe it had gotten worse? It’s hard to know.

The pills didn’t erase all her problems.

_Wrong pills, bud. These are the boring over the counter ones._

Fun pills or not, said problem still resides within the tank. They seem awfully small. As she got closer, it became clear why the guppy seemed even smaller than before. They’re curled in on themself, phalanges gripping at their ribs as if the tighter the cling would make things better. Whatever was happening in the little guppy’s head, it seemed like hell.

_Doesn’t matter. Bastard deserves it._

Darci instead riffles through the box. Marque must’ve left more than just ‘Keep away from mustard,’ if that’s the only message, she’s going to blow her gasket again. Desperately, she dumps the whole box out.

Hundreds of mustard packets fall out along with the lab reports. A gust from the vents turning on again flings the lab reports like fleeing gulls. Everywhere.

On the damp floor.

Mixed with so many sample six mustard packets.

For only God knows why since Marque didn’t even like mustard. Or ANY condiment you’d traditionally put on a burger.

“WHAT. THE FUCK. IS WITH YOU. AND MOTHER-FUCKING-MUSTARD!” Darci dashes to pick up the reports. “You don’t even like it!”

_They tried to kill me. Should just leave him here. Screw Marque._

Her heart stops at some of the pictures in the lab reports.

Guess it was optimistic of her to think a lab that worked with sentient life woudn’t but… the way they displayed the guppy’s body. They strapped down his arms, neck, part of his vervical vertebrae along with some clear plastic on his tail. He’s snarling with eye lights so tiny that you’d think he couldn’t see anymore. His teeth glinted with a blood lust that threatened to rip apart the viewer.

In the next photo, it was focused just on his tail. It highlighted a lot. Specifically, the waist region---

Suddenly, it feels wrong personal. Way too revealing of a photo. the way the first one cut off part of his face as if it didn’t matter. The following pictures bisected his body. Darci couldn’t look through much more of it. Moreso out of fear of what else they could do.

_Did Marque do this?_

Reluctantly, she scans thorugh the reports. She’s careful this time to avoid looking the pictures. Not single one of these reports had Marque’s name on them. Well, none of them with a name that she ever went by. Marque never mentioned her last name, now that she considers it.

At the back of the packet, there’s a hard drive marked “EVERYTHING.”

How… _descriptive_.

She flips over the stack of reports only for a photo to slip out. She tried her best to avert her eyes but the splash of red attracted it. She couldn’t look away. One of the pictures must’ve been right after the guppy got that nasty eye injury. The flesh around that seeped with their red magic like blood. te way their brow bone was scrunched up in pain. it looks like someone was holding them down to take the picture.

Who just takes a picture of someone after that?

A finger of a lighter complexion holds the guppy’s face and arms down for lack of restraints.

_What happened? They caused that. How could something like that have happened? Who does that?_

Like a rock falling into calm water, her mind goes to Marque. But she couldn’t have. Could she?

Darci looks closer at the picture to notice the slightly off skin tone. It didn’t look like Marques. Plus, it didn’t have nearly as many scars. Darci has an idea where she got all of them from with this little fella. Plus, they didn’t seem scared of Darci until they recognized her. So maybe they were friends with Marque.

That alleviated some of the twisting sensation. Still.. The more Darci looked through the files… It was how they spoke about them, how they described how the “injury was incurred outside of the experiment.” A later file reads, “due to performing outside standard deviation for guppy variant bitties of batch 045, subject 983 should be left to expire in the holding tank or humanely euthanized. The reason for being outside standard deviation being the guppy being deaf.”

Darci finds herself getting lost in file after file after file.

_No wonder she got you out of there…_

_But why did she leave you there for so long?_

The question dies in her throat. It must’ve been an hour, maybe two, the guppy still hasn’t moved.

_But he tried to **kill** me!_

No name.

It stung to her core. That is, until she emptied the bottom of the box. There’s a small photo album. It reads “batch 012, subject 009 20XX-20XX,” except batch and subject were scratched out to read “Snaps.” On the front, there’s an image with Snaps beaming with a yellow substance leaking from his eye sockets, from his nose. Marque looks like she’s about to puke. 

It felt like a weight lifted off her. At least they have one.

Darci presses into the center of the polaroid, warping it until it’s about to crinkle.

The memory of being bashed into different surfaces still hot in her mind.

Suddenly, an idea struck her, what if the guppy thought she was going to do experiments on them too. It doesn’t seem that Marque did anything to prepare them for this. It makes sense why they fought so hard.

It hurt just seeing them curled up like that. If Snaps has a good relationship with Marque… She doesn’t. She’s jumping to conclusions. Why should she care? it’s not her fault all of this happened.

Despite her best efforts, her gaze keeps wandering back to the cowering bitty.

This was just a lot.

Darci groans. Then the idea hit her, the guppy sort of looked like they were looking for something. the way that they arched their back when they first met made them seem like a cat. Maybe Snaps responds too similar stimuli.

Brain thoroughly fried, Darci slides her hand in and cradles him. They aren’t an actual fish, so maybe…

Then what they did just hits her like a cinder block.

_Shit, this was a dumb idea._

The guppy freezes up. Darci feels the familiar sensation of chains around her shoulders before she’s realizes what’s happening. The blood within her head thumps irritably. “Oh fuck, not this again.” She grinds her teeth, ready for whatever pain to happen next.

Nothing comes.

She looks up to see the guppy glaring, still holding their sides for dear life. Bright red globs like that from a lava lamp float up to the surface.

She wasn’t sure how long that head ache, much less bruise would take to go away. All she wanted to do was lay down and sleep the fucker off. Maybe some ibuprofen too.

The chains don’t tighten but there’s a burning sensation on her hip. She must’ve not taken enough ibuprophen. Not for this. She quickly snatches up a notepad.

 **> I’m** **not trying to hurt you. Let me go**.

That seemed to just piss them off more. Instead, she riffles through the box with her free hand and throws in the waterproof keyboard, then attaches the double-sided tablet to the inside of the tank. For the hell of it, she drags out the other keyboard.

Upon seeing this, the guppy darts over and sets it up with impressive ease. Immediately to type--

**> wat da fuk u doin???**

“I’m doing fine, thanks for asking.” Darci grumbles to herself, still bound to the desk.

_Maybe this was a bad idea._

With one hand, she chicken pecks. **“You were sad as fuck. What was I supposed to do?** ”

They stare at it, then back at Darci then back at the message as if none of it was in a language they knew. Darci growls, course that doesn’t get his attention. They’re under water for Christ’s sake!

**> Nobody likes being alone. Marque dumped you.**

_Maybe I shouldn’t say thi **s…**_

**> I promise we’ll find her. She’s not getting off the hook that easily.**

_Especially after kissing me_.

But they didn’t need to know that.

Darci felt it the moment those words are read. The chains break apart in messy globs of red magic. The anger drains just as quickly from their expression. Reluctantly, Darci slides her hand back into the water, much slower than before. She isn’t an idiot. Not planning on touching him. The waterworks had already started if those red gloops floating from his sockets meant anything.

When the guppy notices her hand remarkably close, they immediately headbutt into it. Darci tenses. But they just keep holding on, binding a few chains around the hand and themself. They exhale, a rush of bubbles and red tears rushing to the surface.

It only takes probably was two minutes but felt like hours for Darci to feel the overwhelming need to take her hand out. It’s starting to fall asleep.

The headache makes her thoughts swim in and out of each other.

_When are those fucking pills going to kick in?_

Holding onto anything in particular is difficult. Her hand barely broke the surface before several dozen chains attached to her skin. So dense that she couldn’t see the guppy among it. She sighs, giving a testing tug. No such luck. Unless she wants to give up her skin.

She surrenders her poor hand to the guppy.

A gentle burning start intensifies on her hip. Using her other hand, she tried to give the chain doing that a light tug. Oddly enough, there wasn’t a chain anywhere near that part of her. The light burning sensation like pop rocks along the skin of her hip.

_Maybe an adverse reaction to his magic?_

Doesn’t matter, Darci has slept through worse. She gathers what papers she can to stack up and passes out on the pile. Her slip isn’t restful but sleep is sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: head injury, concussion-esque, miscommunication leading to a fight, almost injury of a bitty, aggression towards a bitty
> 
> ~~~~~~Archival Info~~~~~~~~  
> OG: March 11th, 2020  
> Compiling Notes: November 11th – 19th, 2020  
> Editing: November 20th - 29th, 2020  
> Last Updated: February 16, 2021 
> 
> Credits:  
> Bittybones by @Fucken-Crybaby also @bittybones-au  
> Guppy Bitty Inspiration @bitesize-degeneracy (horror blog)  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> If I don't post it now, I'll never do it. Hope y'all enjoyed this little dumpster fire. I’d love to hear any of your thoughts and criticism. Comments mean the world to me~  
> Stay Safe!  
> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *ヽ(◕ヮ◕ヽ)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snaps isn't talking and Darci needs to blow off some steam.

You know that feeling when the bus gets stopped at every light?

No matter how quick your feet hit the pavement afterwards, you’re never going fast enough. She’s been waiting all week for this. Her favorite restaurant waits in the middle distant. Calling for her in between the fluorescent flashes. It’s just waiting. Just at its sign her mouth starts watering.

Darci could barely restrain herself from bolting through the parking lot. Her stomach growls.

_When was the last time I ate?_

_Aww, fuck, that was probably lunch yesterday. Whoops._

Between monitoring Snaps’s tablet and testing out a couple dozen foods, she hadn’t paid much attention to her body, much less sleeping. Did she sleep? Probably… Maybe.

After checking the tablet for the millionth time for a messge, she’d probably binged ten or twelve nature documentaries.. then her memory goes fuzzy so she probably slept. She could barely drag herself out of bed. There were so many things wrong with this situation she didn’t want to give herself the time of day to think about it. The weekend was almost over and she hadn’t relaxed a bit.

She needed this.

She _really_ badly needed this.

Like the need for water in a desert.

The fluorescent sign reads ‘Luce’s Burgers’ in big crimson cursive letters. It feels like its from another era. The rest of the shops keep to a modern style but this burger joint seems stuck in the seventies from all the way down to the interior. Darci leans up against the window.

Oh, how great it would be if quarantine wasn’t a thing. Those turquoise seats are so damn comfortable. Plus, with how cozy the tables were all snug together. She could just bask in the flavor aroma. Her eyes would train on every time Eucid or Ann would bring a tray out. Her mouth would water beyond comprehension.

Just thinking about it makes Darci salivate.

Sadly, the doors are locked. Plastic covers the booths like a gentle veil. Even the rainbow, trans and genderqueer flag seem to sag. It’s painful to see it like this. The runaways should be in the back booth playing whatever synthetic racket they called music. Then the Old Guard, oh those ones would be on the polar opposite of the joint. In between, there’d be a mixture of young families. Plus, the burgeoning trans girls, boys and enbies coming out of the bathroom stalls with their first shared look at their real selves. Sure, there was plenty of arguments. Nobody was on much of the same thing about much except protect the kids but… it was safe. In this town, you’d be lucky to see a rainbow flag for miles, much less a wall full of them.

It sends a heat from her ears to her toes. It calls for her throw off the damn plastic coverings. It’s all wrong.

There should be _people_ in there.

Her People.

Darci wipes at her eyes vigorously. She was here to relax, not get herself worked up.

_It isn’t supposed to be like this._

It hasn’t even been a couple months in quarantine but it already feels like all her nerves are on fire. She can almost touch the apolstry. Not that it mattered. It felt dead inside. The remaining warmth bottled up in the spot of sunshine, Anna, who rushes out the double doors like a wildfire. She nearly ran into the post of the service tent.

“Whoops!” She chirps, yanking the structure back into place. “Sheesh, these things are light.”

Darci shakes her head.

“Darci, baby! You’re back! What took you so long???” Without a second thought, Ann pulls Darci into a warm hug.

She melts into the hug.

_Damn, it’s good to be home._

“You alright, hun?” Ann’s normally peppy voice is oddly even.

Regretfully, Darci lets go.

_Don’t break down! You’re stronger than this._

“M’fine.” Darci yawns, slipping into the seat. Even in the ordering tent, she could smell the grease, ketchup, mustard and all manner of spices. It stuck to the table, the chairs, even the outside of the establishment. Sure, it wasn’t like the heavy scent inside but it set Darci’s nerves at easy all the same. Her mouth watered at what she could get. A burger, sure, but there were so many combinations.. so tempting to get more than one.

Darci couldn’t help but break into a smile.

Mask or no mask, it didn’t come close to holding back her. Plus, not many people have hot pink hair that reaches mid back with a curly multicolored sidepony. Anna had always been ahead of her time. Or between times, Darci was never sure if this would come into fashion but she always looked dashing. That twinkle in her eye didn’t hurt either.

“Darci?” She drops her pitch. “You know how I feel about—”

“P-pretty.” Darci smacks a hand over her mouth.

Anna swoops into take a seat at the table.

“Nothing!” Darci chirps.

Ann continues to drink in the compliment nonetheless, “what’s that, babe? You know how I feel about whispering.” She winks. “But I’ll let it slide this time.”

“Cunt.”

“Cutiepie~” Ann sighs. “but really, how’s life treating you? I haven’t seen you in… what? a month? two?”

_Oh yeah, since… her._

“Probably.”

_It’s definitely been longer._

“Quarantine does that. Warps time, you know.” And like that, it’s like her joyous bubbled popped. “Nobody wants to eat out. Luce pays me good but… you know, money is money…” That twinkle nearly flicker in her eye.

Momentarily, she looks to Darci. Something registers and she perks up again. “Where are my manners? You must be starving!” Ann rushes back inside to call the order.

Darci glances at the pile of papers at one of the tables inside, probably Ann’s. Ann skips like she’s on a sugar high over to Luce. A beautiful middle-aged woman with long curly brown hair. Her eyes are a bit sunken but she still smiles when Ann leans against the counter, making loud gestures. Luce shakes her head about something Ann said. She dramatically points back to Darci, then to herself. Luce shakes her head again before stepping into the kitchen. Probably to tell her wife Darci’s order in person. Ann jokes that she could just holler it but “an excuse for a make out isn’t something one should avoid”, as Luce would say. “And my wife is the most gorgeous woman in the world. I can’t help it!” She’d probably say too.

Nonetheless, Ann stomps back out in the most brattish manner possible.

“How’s college going?”

At the drop of a beat, she’s back. “Oh! don’t even get me started! It’s… okay. Better than I thought. Much easier to cheat on tests. Don’t give me that look! You did the same!”

Darci shrugs. “Mine weren’t all online.”

“Pff! If they were, you’d have done the same. My professors are _terrible_ at testing us. Really, what’s the point of a test except to test what you learned? All they test are gadlkglkbjflfdkd! Can’t even ask my friends for help. All of them are like… you know, ugh. It’s bleh. Tell me about you.”

“Finally finished that book on sea weed evolution I was telling you about?” Darci barely finished her sentence when she noticed how Ann was jumping in her chair. Darci can’t help it, old habits die hard. “I can lend it to you…?.”

Ann deflates. “ _Pleeeeeeease,_ ” she groans, “Don’t do this to me, sweat pea!”

“Yeah?” Darci tilts her head. “What?”

“Sadist.”

_Awww, I bet she’s smiling ear to ear under there. Is she going to…? She’s leaning over the fucking table, oh fuck, that’s ador---SHUT UP! SHUT UP!_

“Speaking of sea weed, did you know—”

“---PPPPPPPPLEASE CAN I SAY ONE MORE THING!?” She says so quickly Darci barely can understand her.

Darci chuckles. “sure, sure, what?”

“You know, my parents?”

_Like jumping from the frying pan into an ice box, what a transition?_

Darci leans back in her seat. “yeah, shitbag 1 and dipshit 2.”

Another giggle escapes Ann. “They prefer Mister and Misses, for your information! Show some respect! Anyways, they called~”

Darci freezes at the thought. “With a phone?”

“No. With a banana.”

The silence is so great that you can hear the faint roar of traffic in the distance.

Darci leans against her hand. _This has got to be good_.

Ann’s parents weren’t a chatty bunch since she came out. Darci helped with the move to Luce and Mace’s place. Ann received a ton of phone calls the first week. It had the fire and brimstone threats, conversation therapy, and all manner of treatments. Word spread and it seemed like the calls came from everywhere. Though, once Darci was there for one, they started to make fun of the callers. It always turned that frown upside down on Ann. Back in those days, Ann never truly smiled.

Still, not like she wanted to hear Ann ever being in contact with those fuckheads again.

“No way….. What they say?”

“They wanted to know how I was fairing.” Ann laughs with a wave of her hand “You’re face pfff! I know, right? I never would’ve guessed they’d call again. Low and behold, it took a pandemic for them to… care?... how about you, sweat pea?”

Darci takes another bite into her burger and another and another until she just swallows that lump, nearly chokes on it.

It hurts.

“That bad?” Anna says glumly.

Darci forgets how much people can read her features without a mask on. “Yeah. She left.”

“What?!” Anna stands up. “you said you’d tell me if anything happened! When did this---”

“Three.” Darci supplies helpfully.

Anna’s eyes narrow. “Three what?”

_Damn, this girl was good._

“….Months….”

“MONTHS!” Anna throws up her hands. “Now what?”

“What about what?”

“Something else must’ve happened.” That roving eye falls on Darci batting around the plate.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

_It’s not like Marque meant anything._

The last bits of burger slide into a patch of ketchup. It’s stuck. No matter how hard she throws the plate… unless… it goes off the table. Then it will surely be unstuck.

Before she could consider it, something else stops her. Something gentle grasps her hand. Ann’s intense stare softens. Her playful exterior cracking at the edges. She doesn’t say anything.

“uh… well.. I, ya know, sorta.. saw her again.”

_I’ll get over it._

“She just sort of.. happened?” Darci takes another bite. “…She ran in… dropped off uh.. package, kissed me—”

“SHE WHAT????” Anna bolts up again.

Darci jumps out of her skin, nearly knocking off a salt and pepper shaker. “Do you want me to finish or what?” She snaps.

“Sorry, sorry! But what did you expect, honestly?... oooooh fine, fine, fine. What happened next?”

“Then she left the box and ran.” Darci mumbles. Meeting Anna’s eyes seemed infinitely more challenging. Her throat constricted, her eyes burn. She could barely swallow back the wetness in her voice. “She’s not coming back.” She whispers.

Darci listens to the sound of Anna plopping back down in her seat. the old metal chair creaking under the strain. “Oh.” She says quietly, then, “oh, I’m so sorry, Darci. I.. you, you know you can stay as long as you want.”

Darci grip tightens on the plate.

Unable to speak for fear of sounding more pathetic as she felt, she doesn’t say anything for awhile.

“That’s horrible of her.”

“I know.”

There’s an awkward silence. Darci resumes on playing with the plate.

Anna finally speaks up. All the energy normally in her voice replaced with a tempered curiosity. “So.. what was in it?.. the box?”

_How to explain?_

Darci really should’ve just left there but her mind had other ideas. She tentatively adds. “It wasn’t really a box.”

“Then why did you say it was box?”

“They had a box.”

“who had a box?”

“The person had a box… It was so big.. that I thought it was just a box and not a person.”

_Darci, your improv skills are second to none. Vaguer the better._

Darci pauses, gathering what little mental strength she has left to BS her way through the next few minutes. She had no one else to turn to for help. “They were from a… bad situation…Marque was… helping them. out. ”

Ann crosses her arms. “.. she left you with her kid?”

“Fuck no!” _Marque wasn’t like that. She was self-centered at times but she’d never_. “It was someone else’s?” _Stop ending your explanations like you’re not even sure. She can’t possibly buy your bullshit!_

Somehow Anna bought it. “She came back to you…”

“Yeah.”

“After ghosting you for three months.”

“Pretty much.”

“To dump a kid on you.”

Darci winces. “When you say it like that… she sounds horrible.. but it.. it.. it”

Why they hell are you defending her?

“What did you expect? Me to just leave them there? Where they were from… The notes Marque left me… their-their—”

_Shit, talking shouldn’t be this difficult. I should really go. This was a waste of time. I can’t talk to her about this… About him.. But I can’t wait any longer either. What if he dies---_

Darci takes another deep breath. Intrusive thoughts could be such a bitch sometimes.

_Don’t cry. Don’t cry. She’s just trying to help. Don’t cry. Don’t cry._

_Deep breath._

_Deep._

_Breath_.

_Think of breaking glass. It shatters… now its over. Let it go._

“nah, I’m good. Just..” Darci glances around. “Got lost in my head. Lot’s going on.”

Darci rubs her face, pulling up her mask. It’s like a security blanket nowadays. Even around Ann, sometimes, she just doesn’t want to be seen. Take a little control back.

Darci asks. “I’ve been meaning to ask..its abou the box.. person..”

“The kid you thought was just a box but actually is a person?” Ann perks up.

Darci blinks. Well, that’s as close a proximation, she guesses. “yeah.”

“How are they?”

Those words certainly mean something. She should be able to answer them. The answer is clear as day.

_I don’t know._

He’s hid under that damn rock. The bastard even went to the trouble of clogging the entrance with Coontail. For all she knows, he’s dead.

The dishes rush across her vision in a long conveyor belt. Dozens, maybe more foods and he only ate three of them in their entirety. the rest he nibbled on. Maybe his stomach can’t process plants? What if he was just a skeleton in there… or well.. whatever happened to skeleton guppies when they died.

“he’s hanging in there.” Darci mutters.

A new memory surfaces of the first night. The way those chains dug into her skin. It compared nothing to the way he clinged with his tiny hands to her skin. . They were someone clinging for a connection when everything had left.

Another memory tried to surface, one too close to home.

_Today’s not the day for **that** one._

“Darci?”

“Yeah, yeah, just lost my train of thought. Give me a break. What were we talking about?” It takes a good tussling of her hair before she can get back on trash. “oh yeah.. box kid.” She idly picks up a few mustard packets. “They’re fine. not chatty. I… I’ve been meaning to… ask. Since you.. you know.”

Darci can imagine how strained Anna’s smile. So much of her is lost behind that mask.

“They’re not talking to me. They eat. But they don’t come out of their… room.”

“Their parents really did a number on them.” Ann mumbles.

Darci nodded.

“So now you’re helping them out? You should bring them around! I bet they’d feel much better being around their people.”

Darci bit her tongue.

_Wow, just dug yourself into a bigger whole._

“Maybe later.” She mumbles. “he’s… skiddish. Around everything. It was… bad. They won’t leave their bowl, I mean room.”

It’s like everything clicked into place. “Ooooh.“

“What should I do?”

“I don’t think I’m the best to ask.. there’s plenty of others.” The words stumble out from Ann. It’s like something broke inside, her eyes widened as if she could get lost in something.

“I shouldn’t have asked.” Darci stands up but Ann catches her arm.

“You’ve tried talking, right?” Darci nods. “That’s… that’s a start. That’s good. They’re scared. really scared. Scared that you might.. might.. might leave them too. Remember to tell-to tell him you won’t!... Don’t expect anything quick.

  
Just tell him I won’t abandon him? Just wait?

That hard pitter patter of her heart rolls to a restful beat. She hadn’t fucked this up yet. Snaps just needed time. They’d come out eventually. They just needed to wait.

“They-they.. you never know…. I.. it wasn’t that long ago. I’m not that much of help. You really shouldn’t have asked, I..”

“No, it’s perfect. This…” Darci nods along, feeling her own confidence growing. At least she has a place to start, a framework. “I can work with this.” Darci squeezes Ann’s hand. It’s awkward but something seems to get across from how she squeezes back. “Thank you.”

“Your welcome.” some of the pep returns to Ann’s voice but it’s still distant. “you better come more often or I’ll drag you out of that stupid stinky apartment of yours.”

“It doesn’t stink!” Darci crosses her arms. “It smells great.”

“It smells like dead fish. I thought you liked fish.” Ann teases.

Darci shrugs. “Some are pets, some are food.”

“Fish are friends, not food?”

Darci snickers. “Depends on the kind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~~~Archival Info~~~~~~  
> OG: January 11th, 2021  
> Editing: February 2nd - 16th, 2021  
> Published: February 16th, 2021  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> I'm a bit worried about this chapter since it doesn't have our favorite chain bitty in it but I really couldn't see him warming up to Darci immediately. More like the first night was a hug of desperation, not something he'd normally do with a stranger. Hmm.. I hope y'all like this chapter anyway. Next chapter is gonna take some time but I bet it'll knock your socks off. Promise *audible wink*  
> Take care! *virtual hug*


End file.
